Credible scientific evidence of clinical effectiveness should underpin the delivery of health care. Satisfactory health outcomes and cost effectiveness require this approach. In Australia however pseudoscience flourishes as regulatory bodies fail to protect consumers from health care fraud. (more…)
Category: Health
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JOHN DWYER. The parlous state of strategies to protect consumers from health care fraud. Part 2 of 3.
Credible scientific evidence of clinical effectiveness should underpin the delivery of health care. Satisfactory health outcomes and cost effectiveness require this approach. In Australia however pseudoscience flourishes as regulatory bodies fail to protect consumers from health care fraud and a massive industry prospers as it convinces consumers to use expensive supplements they do not need. In this three part examination of the issue the extent of the problem is examined, as are the changes that would better protect consumers. (more…)
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JOHN DWYER. The parlous state of strategies to protect consumers from health care fraud. Part 1 of 3
Credible scientific evidence of clinical effectiveness should underpin the delivery of health care. Satisfactory health outcomes and cost effectiveness require this approach. In Australia however pseudoscience flourishes as regulatory bodies fail to protect consumers from health care fraud and a massive industry prospers as it convinces consumers to use expensive supplements they do not need. In this three part examination of the issue the extent of the problem is examined, as are the changes that would better protect consumers. (more…)
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TERRY LAIDLER. Reconstructing Juvenile Justice – a 7 point plan
A major public storm has erupted in Victoria about the government’s decision to locate a new juvenile justice detention centre at Werribee in the city’s south west. Locals see it as demeaning to their neighbourhood, but, in my view, it’s the whole idea is wrong, NOT the site! (more…)
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IAN WEBSTER. The need for more balanced media reporting of alcohol and illicit drug problems.
To those who work in the health system, ‘ICE’ is but one problem among many and pales into the background of the prevailing problems of addiction and misuse of alcohol and drugs. (more…)
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JOHN MENADUE. Medical specialists – high fees and poor accountability.
So much of the public attention is on care in general practice, but specialist healthcare has some very serious problems. The first is excessive remuneration of many specialists. In some cases it could only be described as greed. The second is the lack of accountability for care by many specialists and the unwillingness of their organisations to tackle the problem. (more…)
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HAL SWERISSEN. Obesity: individual responsibility isn’t enough
When individual choices cost tax payers $5.2 billion in extra health and welfare services for obesity, the market has failed. When the market fails, it is legitimate for government to act. (more…)
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PETER GIBILISCO. Where are the public intellectuals like Hugh Stretton.
“The worst kind of bad social science, Stretton argues, purports to select the things to be explained, and the ways of explaining them, without resort to values and valuation” (more…)
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KAREN WILLIS AND SOPHIE LEWIS. Increased private health insurance premiums don’t mean increased value.
A topic of discussion at many barbecues this summer will inevitably be private health insurance. Is it worth it? Do we need it? Every year it gets more expensive. The average 4.8% increase in premiums just announced will have more Australians raising these questions, and debating with their friends how much they value choice of doctor, reduced waiting times for elective surgery, and having a private room when in hospital. (more…)
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JOHN MENADUE. We are losing our sense of community
Markets are displacing society and community. Exclusion is winning out over inclusion. (more…)
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THOMAS BABOR, DAVID JERNIGAN, CHRIS BROOKES. Alcohol marketing: the simple truth
According to the World Health Organization, there are 3.3 million deaths attributable to alcohol use worldwide each year. Alcohol marketing, promotion and sponsorship are widespread in most of the world today and marketers are moving increasingly to digital and social media, where efforts at regulation have fallen far behind industry innovations in producing audience engagement and brand ambassadorship. (more…)
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ALEX WODAK. Do large seizures of illicit drugs really make a difference?
Large seizures of illicit drugs always attract considerable publicity, and are no doubt very positive for the law enforcement agencies and politicians involved. But do they benefit the community? (more…)
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RONALD MACKINNON. Do we as doctors always put our patients first?
After his retirement, Dr Chris McCaffrey requested that his gravestone be inscribed:
‘I was always on the side of the patient‘.
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PHILIP CLARKE & PETER SIVEY. Why don’t we know how many people die in our hospitals?
Unfortunately no one yet has been able to overcome the federal/state divide in order to combine Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data held in Canberra with hospital and mortality data from each state. Making this type of data available would facilitate research to improve the quality and safety, as well as the efficiency of our health system. Better health data and statistics should be a priority of politicians across Australia. (more…)
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IAN WEBSTER. A tribute to Anne Deveson – understanding the homeless mentally ill
Anne Deveson’ s media presence spearheaded the media’s involvement in public health and mental health. She contributed at so many levels – social commentaries and documentaries -which challenged our sensibilities. (more…)
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IAN WEBSTER. Protecting young people from our ‘favourite drug’ – alcohol.
Marketing of alcohol is out of control. 20% of those watching major sporting events on TV are under the age of 18 years.
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STEPHEN LEEDER. Over-servicing in health.
Abuse of Medicare or other reimbursement schemes is much easier if the regulations surrounding it are lax. That is what makes the current review of Medicare so important so that the rules are clear and make the best match possible between cost and benefit. This will result in less temptation to overuse useless procedures that might make the clinician rich but do nothing – and perhaps even harm – the patient.
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JOHN MENADUE. Private Health Insurance vs dental care.
Australian health would be much improved if the $11 billion subsidy for private health insurance was abolished and part of those funds allocated to universal dental care within Medicare.
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BOB BIRRELL. GP Oversupply and Medical Migration
There are many indicators of GP over-supply in Australia. … One consequence has been an escalation in the cost of GP rebates to the taxpayer. … Better distribution of GP services could be achieved by restricting new provider numbers to under-supplied districts.
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CHRIS SIDOTI. 30th Anniversary of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Part 2 of 2.
Human rights work has a cost, and we need to remember the cost and the toll that it takes on the people who are doing it. Those who are paying the price need the support of those who are not paying so much.
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PETER DAY. Homelessness v houselessness
We need to change the way we do charity and welfare; we’re out of kilter: lots of giving and receiving of things, but too little giving of ourselves – we just don’t have the time. It hardly needs saying, “People need people.” (more…)
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KIM OATES. Respecting patients and keeping them safe
Some words of advice from Kim Oates for doctors and other health workers. The patient is the reason for health services. Health workers are means to that end. (more…)
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IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 1 – Who’s been left behind?
In “developed” countries the benefits of 35 years of economic growth have been unevenly distributed. Many people who once had well-paid manufacturing jobs and many who live in the country have fallen behind. While this has been most starkly manifest in the US, it is also happening in Australia.
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Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 2 – The response of those left behind
It would be hasty to attribute the Brexit and Trump votes to a “swing to the right”, or to an ill-informed electorate. The most compelling explanations are in terms of protest votes. People’s anger of electorates has given an opening for political opportunists.
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IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 3 – Globalization takes the rap, unfairly
Globalization has been only one of the developments that has led to widening inequality and social exclusion. Countries that have globalized have also introduced a raft of neoliberal domestic policies, against which people are reacting.
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Chomsky interview on the ravages of neoliberalism.
In this interview, reported in The Wire on 31 January 2016, Noam Chomsky talks about the ravages of neoliberalism. this is a repost from 21 February 2016. (more…)
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HAL SWERISSEN and STEPHEN DUCKETT. Is a tax on sugary drinks “bonkers”?
The evidence is that currently there are significant harms and costs associated with the consumption of sugary drinks, both to those who are obese and the community more generally.
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PETER SAINSBURY. A timely call to end massive public subsidies of the private health insurance industry
The private health insurance industry is a parasite on the health system and the public purse. The government-funded rebate on private health insurance premiums goes to the insurers, not the health care providers, and allows the government almost no control over how its money is used to treat sickness and promote health.
If, for some reason unsupported by most of the evidence, the Government wishes to support private hospitals and private practitioners (as distinct from private health insurance companies), it would deliver itself, the public and patients a much better deal if it by-passed the useless middleman and negotiated with and paid private providers directly. (more…)
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How inefficient private health insurance, drug manufacturers and distributors drive up costs.
In parliament, forty years ago on 27 September 1967, Gough Whitlam described the factors driving up the high cost of healthcare in Australia. The same vested interests drive up costs in Australia at the expense of the taxpayer and the community. John Menadue. (more…)
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JOHN MENADUE. Who said this and when.
Private health insurance is unfair and inefficient. It was because of this that the Whitlam Government established Medibank/Medicare. (more…)